


Revival

by TheGoodNoodle



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Angst, Bonding, Coping, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Fluff, Eventual Romance, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Lol im such an english localization normie I spell it Oma not Ouma, M/M, Omasai - Freeform, Post-Canon, Post-Game, Post-New Dangan Ronpa V3, Slice of Life, Slow Build, Slow Burn, The angst isn't heartbreaking angst but more like unfortunate circumstances angst?, postgame
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-24
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2020-05-18 20:08:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,627
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19341715
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheGoodNoodle/pseuds/TheGoodNoodle
Summary: All of it was fake, some deluded depiction of Team Danganronpa's whims for the 53rd season of the show. Now, the once willing participants are waking up from what was nothing but a simulation; they have to find a way to deal with the fact that nothing in their lives is real. Everything, from their personalities to each and every single one of their memories, was all created by Team Danganronpa, but it's too late to go back... all they can do is live on (but can they really?)"It's weird waking up and remembering things that aren't real..."





	1. Re-Entering The Real World As A Pretend Person

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Life Could Be Beautiful](https://archiveofourown.org/works/9675539) by [idaate](https://archiveofourown.org/users/idaate/pseuds/idaate). 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I recently finished my first semester of psychology classes, and it got me thinking, what would be the psychological implications from learning that everything you know and believe was all a lie? Like holy shit, existential crisis central. It gave me ideas for decent writing material, and out came this fic right here. 
> 
> This is not my first fic, I have a long list of other accounts with fics for different fandoms but they're mostly abandoned except for a select few that I might get around to finishing. But this here, is, in fact, my first V3 fic (even though I posted another, I finished the first chapter for this one first). 
> 
> Hope you like it c:

_It's weird waking up and remembering things that aren't real..._

 

He wakes up to light, which is odd because he doesn't remember falling asleep. He _remembers_ walking hand in hand with Maki and Himiko towards the future, leaving their nightmare behind.

He's not even outside anymore. Shuichi looks around to realize the light is artificial, beating down on him like a seed in a small pot that needs to be started inside, for it to survive outside. The artificial light is so bright and close; it's as if it's trying to emulate the sunlight it would never be. He glances around the room to see that the walls are also white, and so is the window. The atmosphere behind the panes houses a blue sky, completely unlike the reddened sky of the post-apocalyptic world they all saw and _remembered_.

He can't see the floor, but he can see himself. He's covered to the waist in a papery white sheet, and above that, he's in a hospital gown. Attached to his arms are multiple wires, and he can see some (separate) wires leading towards his head. They trail under the helmet; he feels the further dips they make in his skin compared to the fit of the headgear.

(Huh...)

There's a small, wall TV in the far left corner of the room, and beside that is a door. More artificial white light’s coming from the window of the door, and judging by the style of the room and his attire, he's most likely in a hospital -- or a mental facility (Less likely, as many of them don't use hospital gowns). Disengaging himself from the wires and the other things that keep him where he is is the next thing he does.

He stands to find that his legs are really shaky, much more than they ever have been. It's like they won't respond properly, even though he can still stumble along in a fashion that resembles walking. Putting his hand on the chilled metal of the doorknob, it takes an astounding amount of effort to just push down the handle and open the door; it feels like it's made of solid brick, not some plastic-encased wood.

He's already out of breath by the time he falls to the tile floor. The door shuts behind him. It's loud compared to the near lack of noise in the bright, empty, hallway.

The automatic locking of the door he just passed through startles him. Shuichi's pulse quickens in panic of the unknown. He's deduced that he doesn't know his current location or the reason why he's there (he could guess, but that would make things much worse).

A male voice resonates through the empty hallways, a prerecorded message through the wall speakers. "Congratulations! You've won! Please exit through the left hallway. Follow the green arrows to the main room to receive further instruction."

Shuichi remains leaning against the door he exited from. He can't bring himself to listen, too focused on the loudest question in his mind, other ones following.

_'It's not over yet, is it?'_

_'Where am I?'_

_'What do they/it mean, I've won?'_

 

Followed by a less persistent, resigned thought

_'I'll have to do what they want sooner rather than later.'_

 

Defeated, the detective stumbles along the hallway to the left, following the green arrows as directed. The voice continues as he walks, "due to the safety concerns of the team members, you will not meet or contact any faculty at this time."

So the _'they/it'_ debate settles on a _'they'_. Multiple people are the cause of Shuichi's current situation, he supposes.

The green arrows lead to a door. It automatically opens when he walks in the vicinity, revealing Maki inside.

Her head lifts from its deep-in-thought glower to meet Shuichi's. "Shuichi," she acknowledges.

"Maki." His shock is apparent and his gaze pans around the rest of the room- a seating area, empty, save for Maki and himself. _That means,_ "...where- where's Himiko?" He asks her.

"I don't know." She looks away, withdrawn. It's not out of the ordinary. Maki's been withdrawn a lot lately, at least, during the killing game. It makes Shuichi wonder whether she was like that before, too. It's gotten noticeably more apparent ever since-

Another automatic door opens, revealing Himiko. Her eyes are red and her cheeks look wet. She seems even more surprised to see them. "Nyeh... You're here. I was worried I wouldn't have enough MP to find you guys."

 _So she was afraid she'd end up alone._ "I'm glad you two are alright," Shuichi tells them, and he is.

"Shuichi," Maki regains his attention, "how did we get here?"

"I... don't know. The last thing I remember is escaping the school."

"It's the same for me." Maki pauses, her face hardening. "I would know if I went unconscious."

"Hmm..." Himiko hums in thought.

"I can't say for certain, but something tells me it's not over. If it was... we'd be outside. The sky is different as well."

"The sky?" Maki questions.

"Yeah. When we escaped, the sky was red because of the meteors and destruction, but there was a window in the room I woke up in, and the sky appeared blue."

Maki expression turns to one of pondering.

 

The same male voice from the speakers interrupts all their qualms. "Please direct your attention to the monitor in the center of the room. You will view a presentation explaining many of the things you may be wondering about. All other questions will be answered in time. Please wait patiently."

They turn to the screen, and it lights up. A middle-aged man in a suit begins speaking in a familiar voice. It's the same voice on the prerecorded messages. "Welcome, winners of the 53rd season of the popular TV show, Danganronpa, created by the workers here at Team Danganronpa, including myself. Now, let's begin, shall we?"

The program cuts to a cartoony depiction of many people seated around a futuristic conference-like table, chatting soundlessly amongst themselves as a tune resembling elevator music plays lowly in the background of the man's voice as he continues, "Team Danganronpa is a company that writes, develops, produces, and carries out all the processes of the show, Danganronpa. Members of the team come together to create character backstories, memory altering machines, character designs, and various other details needed for each season of Danganronpa."

The scene continually changes to correspond with what the voice talks about.

"Fans of Danganronpa from all over the world register, in hopes that they'll be selected to audition for the following season of the show. The team then hosts the auditions for the first 600 eligible fans. Out of all of these admissions Team Danganronpa carefully chooses a lucky 14-15 people to participate! Each of you winners, were one of the chosen."

"Next, Team Danganronpa sends out members to 'kidnap' you. Call it an... initiation of sorts. This information is kept privy to participants only. This is because it serves as the basis for the implanted memories which will later be explained."

"You are immediately taken to the TDR facility. This is the building you are currently in right now. At that point in time, all participants are required to read and sign a contract before entering the game or undergoing the memory alteration process. After they've completed that task, they are sent to rooms assigned alphabetically among five different hallways, some of which you just came from. In their rooms, they enter the virtual world, or as you may know it, the killing game. This is where the killing game begins."

"TDR staff members alter your memories for the first time as soon as you lose consciousness, removing all memories post your kidnapping/initiation. During your season, all participants were permitted to explore the game before losing the rest of their memories, and prior to gaining their ultimate talents. Though you don't remember it, you will be able to access the footage of this at the beginning of your season, the 53rd season."

"After the initial entrance, you were all infused with your ultimate talent in-game abilities, along with the character style and memories surrounding them. Everything that happened proceeding that point, you already know about, of course."

"During your time in the virtual world, you were given 'breaks' where, although you would not regain consciousness, you would receive muscle stimulation and nutrients in order to prevent atrophy. Feeding would also occur during these breaks so that your physical state would decline as little as possible during the course of the show. If you've noticed, you are currently able to walk despite having been in a comatose-like state for approximately six months. You're welcome."

The video cut back to the middle-aged man speaking, "That just about sums up the explanation. Now, please exit through the door labeled 'Danganronpa Community Center: Main Room' to meet with one of the staff members. They will answer any and all questions you may have. And thus concludes the 53rd season of Danganronpa. Thank you for your participation!" The screen turns black.

 

Stunned into silence, the three make their way to the designated door. It opens automatically as well. Big windows cover one wall entirely, shedding light onto the couches, tables, and chairs that make up a room that can only be a recreational center.

A woman stands before them at a height that's slightly shorter than Maki. Her white lab coat adorns a pin that says DR, with the signature monokuma eye below. She begins to read off of the red clipboard in her hands, "Participants #798, Maki Harukawa, #804 Shuichi Saihara, and #808 Himiko Yumeno, congratulations, you are the winners of the 53rd season of Danganronpa. Now, I understand you may have questions and I am here to give you answers." The woman smiles. "Oh!" she exclaims after a moment, "Here is a copy of each of your signed contracts if you wish to read through them." She passes them all a booklet, each page with their own signature toward the bottom of the top sheet.

Maki takes her contract first, leafing through the papers before shooting an accusatory glare at the woman. "How do we know this isn't forged?" she challenges.

The woman smiles again, "I thought you might say that; follow me."  
And she begins walking through another door, the three winners following after. The room has a counter with seating and a few dispersed chairs. She makes her way to a computer that's turned on in the corner of that room and speaks, "we have footage of each of you signing and reading the contract if you'd like to view it." The room has a counter with seating and a few dispersed chairs.

"Ah," Shuichi responds. None of them bother watching it, all taking the woman's word for it.

The contract is lengthy, and once each of them is left to their own devices, (the woman tells them to just let her know if they come up with any questions. They have many, but they're not quite sure they're ready for the answers.) Shuichi begins reading through it. It mentions prize money, a million dollars each (over one hundred million yen), that they will receive at a later date. Written in ink is their agreement to getting put in a simulation where they may carry out murders, or be murdered. They all consented to relinquish their memories to be replaced with false memories, which causes Shuichi to wonder how little he had to lose if he was willing to give it all up. He doesn't know his past self, and he thinks he wouldn't ever want to.

Shuichi learns that they all have a locker at the center, where they left their electronic devices as well as a notebook entailing every important password and piece of information about themselves, so they would still be able to log on after the game. Everyone of them is entitled to therapy, paid for by the company, all medical and health concerns will also be addressed and paid for by Team Danganronpa for the remainder of their lives. The signed booklet also entails all the risks they may face: PTSD, trauma, physical atrophy, brain damage, sensory overload, mental decline, stress, panic, and various other things he's maybe heard in passing- or he hasn't heard in passing because all of his memories are _false_.

He doesn't even _have_ an uncle. The school he thought he went to doesn't exist; every single experience of his is completely shrouded in lies that were fabricated for the sake of some stupid show he wanted to be a part of.

 

Nothing can compare to how surreal it feels to be told that no one is actually dead though. It's obvious once he reads about the consolation prize to the other participants. He runs over to the woman from earlier who's now sitting at the high counter, filling out paperwork and awaiting any questions that may come her way (He’s a little dizzy when he abruptly stands up, but his legs are more steady than they were before)

"Where are the others?"

She smiles, _why does she keep smiling?_ \- "It's only 5:33 AM. They're still sleeping. The bedrooms are right through that door if you'd like a peek." She points, and he wastes no time.

Himiko's head whips away from the page she was reading right to them, "That means I can see Tenko? And, Angie?" she questions, more eager than she's been since waking up.

Shuichi's already through the door before he can hear the lady's reply.

 

There are seven bedrooms on each side of the hallway, and one of them even bears his name. It reminds him of a hotel, the carpeted hallway, rooms all beside each other. There's one for each of them, except Tsumugi and Kiibo. Tsumugi is part of the team and Kiibo was just an AI. He stands in front of Kaede's door for a minute or two, not wanting to knock and disturb her sleep, but also glad she's alive after all. He just hopes she'll wake up soon. He wants to tell her that it wasn't her fault, that she didn't kill Rantaro.

He returns to the others and waits, waits for anyone to wake up. He's like a kid on Christmas morning, waiting to open presents: eager, impatient.

Korekiyo Shinguji walks through the door first, startled and stunned once he sees the three of them. "Oh, you're awake," he says. It's a few minutes before six o'clock.

Shuichi rephrases his earlier thought to _'anyone but the incestuous serial killer'_ but then frowns at himself for thinking like that. Still, he would've preferred Kokichi or even Angie, to _Korekiyo_.

The long-haired male seems to notice this in Shuichi's face, as he blurts out, "ah, I see... _you hate me_ ," and it sounds like he's accepted it.

Shuichi opens his mouth to respond but finds that he doesn't know how.

The other two are wordless too.

"I'll leave you all be," he tells them as he crosses the room and exits through another one of the doors.

Gonta comes within the next twenty minutes. Shuichi isn't paying attention to the egress and is startled by the booming, "Shuichi! Maki! Himiko! Gonta is so happy to see you!"

"Hi Gonta," Himiko greets, standing to her feet. She wobbles a little, and grips the arm of the chair at first. After blinking a few times with wide eyes, she steadies herself and smiles.

Gonta envelops her in a hug before moving to Shuichi and hugging him tight. He hugs Maki, half against her will, last, not considering that she's not big on acting friendly. The harmless giant is meanwhile dripping with excitement. "Gonta is so glad to see his friends! I know! Gonta can go wake up other friends too!" He rushes to the hallway with all their assigned bedrooms, pounds on every door before anyone can stop or quiet him, and tries waking everyone up.

Rantaro opens his door with a tired look on his face. "What is it Gonta?" He raises a brow. "Oh, hey," he greets them with a slight wave of his hand.

"Rantaro," Shuichi speaks as Maki nods her head faintly in a distant greeting. Himiko's already following Gonta to the next door.

"What is it Shuichi?"

"Ah, I just- In the game, Kaede didn't kill you."

"Oh I know," he begins airily, adopting a thoughtful expression, "do you know who did though? I was too distracted by the metal ball that fell past me from the ceiling to get a look behind me at my killer." He would've gathered that Rantaro had probably already talked to Kaede about the murder if he didn’t have so much to process.

"Ah, um, yea." Shuichi is taken aback by his bluntness- _why did he have to think of the word bluntness?_ \- but he recovers quickly. "...it turned out the mastermind killed you and framed Kaede. It was really Tsumugi all along."

Rantaro opens his mouth- "Himikooooooooo!" He's interrupted by the voice of Tenko Chabashira, who's clad in her pajamas and rampaging in the short redhead's direction like a charging bull.

"Tenko!" Himiko exclaims.

"I'll take care of these degenerates, HAIYAH!" Tenko's eyes center on Gonta, Rantaro, and Shuichi, taking on a fighting stance.

"If they did anything wrong I would stop them... with _my_ mag-" she sighs mid-word, sounding even more tired when she continues, "they didn't do anything wrong Tenko," she explains, saving the three from Tenko Chabashira's wrath... for now.

“Gonta, what is it that you need?” Kirumi exits her door, fully dressed in her maid-like attire despite the loud awakening. Her hands are linked in front of her skirt, prim and proper; it looks like she might bow or curtsy any moment. Shuichi and Maki turn towards her; Himiko is still getting reacquainted with Tenko.

“Kirumi, look! Friends are awake!”

“I see. That is fortunate, however, it is not gentlemanly to awaken others before they are ready.”

“Oh no! Gonta no mean to be ungentlemanly. Gonta keep quiet now like true gentleman!”

She turns to the three survivors. “I would like to apologize. I failed to adequately serve you during the simulation. My duties to you all were superseded by Monokuma’s false memories given to me, and I behaved dishonorably. I sincerely hope you can come to forgive me, given time.” She bows and averts her gaze. “I will go prepare you some tea.”

“You don’t have to-” Shuichi begins, but Kirumi has already left the corridor.

“Gonta, what time does Kaito usually wake up,” Maki asks, though she doesn’t round the statement off with an inquisitive tone like a normal question would be asked.

“Oh! Kaito no here yet. Doctors say Kaito wake up later. Kokichi and Miu too.”

“They… aren’t awake yet? What do you mean?” Shuichi furrows his brows. He thought everyone was sleeping in their designated bedrooms.

“Gonta just woke up two days ago. Before two days ago, Gonta was still stuck.”

“Stuck where?” Himiko intervenes with Tenko looking over her shoulder.

“Hmm, Gonta not sure. Doctors told Gonta it was called something, a sim-lay-shun.”

“They’re still stuck in the simulation.” The bluenette surmises. _How is that possible though? Didn’t the simulation end?_

“Shuichi knows! Gonta no understand much, but hope Maki, Shuichi, and Himiko think Gonta helpful.” He scratches the back of his head with a nervous smile.

The assassin crosses her arms before speaking, “I have to go. There’s something I need to do.” Maki addresses the surrounding ex-students before leaving the hall. Shuichi knows that Maki is going to ask about Kaito. Himiko probably knows too. It doesn’t take a detective to figure that out.

“Oh! Gonta would like to bring friends around building! Like gentleman. That way, friends can know where to go!”

“I’d like that, Gonta.” Shuichi gives the helpful giant a small smile.

“Me too, nyeh, maybe I’ll be able to collect some mana on the way…” Himiko fiddles with her skirt, trying to hide her appreciation.

“I will go too and make sure neither of these menaces do anything suspicious!” Tenko asserts.

“Gonta no do anything suspicious! Gonta gentleman.

 

The three follow Gonta in his attempt at a tour, he doesn’t spend too long in the room connected to the bedrooms’ hallway or the main rec room, since they’ve already been there, but he still lets the others know what rooms they are. He _also_ tells them some unnecessary information, like where the couch is, and other things that they can easily observe themselves.

“And this is room with tables to eat food at. Gonta ate breakfast with friends just last morning!” He explains cheerily as they walk into a dining area of sorts.

 

They enter the kitchen next, where Kirumi is staring at a teapot on the stove, her nose nearly touching the side. “This is room where food is made. Oh, hello Kirumi!” He waves to the former-maid who stands up straight and looks away from the teapot to respond.

“I apologize for the wait. The tea water is still boiling.” Teacups are set out on a tray, enough for everyone who is awake.

“Thank you Kirumi!” He tells her, and then he turns to the three. “Kirumi is true gentleman- no!” he corrects himself, “gentlewoman!”

 

Gonta brings them to a hallway and points to the bathrooms. It would be ‘ungentlemanly’ to enter them, Shuichi supposes. He tells them all about the terrarium in his room, that the ‘doctors’ gave him, on his way through the hall with, what Shuichi can only theorize are, Team Danganronpa employee-owned rooms with various uses.

This theory is proven when Gonta points and says, “this is room where Gonta talks about bugs with doctors.”

(which definitely means that that’s the _‘therapy’ they’re all entitled to_.)

 

The three of them, (even Tenko) can’t help but offer a sympathetic smile when the former-entomologist’s ever present smile fades, and he confides, “Gonta no understand. Danganronpa facility so nice. Doctors smile so much... and even give Gonta bugs for room! But, they reason why friends look so sad all the time.”

  
They make their way back to the main room where Kirumi has their tea ready, along with dishes of various additives (sugar, honey, milk, lemon...). She bows and returns to the dormitories - _assigned bedrooms_ \- as Maki strides, unphasable, into the recreational room.

"I'm going to visit Kaito,"she announces before turning around and walking towards the hospital rooms. She stops at the door and looks back at Shuichi. "Are you coming or not?"

Shuichi nods and follows right after.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They about to see Kaito yo. (Oh gosh, even I’m just like “stop it -_-” to myself) But, anyway, hope you like it. Psst, hey, you should um, follow my [Tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/the-good-noodle-kf) for updates. It’s still pretty empty, but I really wanna expand! :}
> 
> (btw, in the universe that this fic takes place, all their hair colors are 100% natural. It’s not dye because this is fiction! Ehehe)
> 
> May I just say that Gonta is so easy to characterize. He’s just so happy-go-lucky, and his grammar is all wrong lol. He gets defensive about bugs, but other than that, he’s just smiles and innocence. Compared to people like Kirumi, Rantaro, and Himiko, he’s a cake-walk.


	2. Survivor’s Guilt

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eyyyy sorry I haven't updated this in soo long. I definitely plan to continue it, but this chapter was just... I was trying to get it to a certain length, but the things I plan to include shouldn't happen until later on in the story, so I needed to think of content to fill the empty space - which I failed at haha, so instead I thought it'd be better to post this shorter chapter and then immediately post a bonus extra long chapter that I started before this chapter right after :} :} So, that is what I will do. But, don't forget to read this chapter, because, it's still a chapter, short though it may be.

Kaito is more pale than Shuichi remembers. Then again, if he looked in a mirror, he’d notice he’s more pale too. The simulation helmet looks out of place on his head; it covers up his signature astronaut-gravity-defiant hair. He’s _still_ , which is so disconcerting for the otherwise animated magenta-head.

When he turns to Maki she has an expression that Shuichi has never seen in the time that he’d known her. She is just staring at Kaito’s unmoving form, but the former detective has a feeling that she isn’t completely there, in that room. He could guess there are a mixture of emotions threatening to rise to the surface; she’s probably feeling regret, despondency, and some form of pity, much like himself. However, the shaking of her hands and the stiffening of her shoulders pair to form what could only be fear. He’s never seen Maki show anything even slightly reminiscent of fear. 

He wonders what she’s afraid of. Is it the fear of the future, for Kaito, or for herself? He doesn’t want to consider the possibility that she’s scared of how things will change once he wakes up, even though it’s fairly likely. He clearly remembered her last few words to Kaito, and his lack of bilateral response. He isn’t the one who’s in love with Kaito (the word sounds weird as he thinks it), but it’s got to be harder to face for her than it is for him. He knows she remembers too; how could she not? 

He settles on the assumption that the brunette just fears the unknown… it’s ambiguous but realistic. _Isn’t everything about this new reality unknown anyway?_

It starts to feel like he’s intruding, so he quietly leaves the room. He hadn’t realized how helpful the beeping of the heart rate monitor was for synchronising with his breathing, because once he’s back in that hallway, he can’t seem to steadily breathe without thinking about it. 

Now that he is noticing it, it’s like his breathing is a voluntary motion. He tries to distract himself by walking towards the others and thinking about other things. It works until he acknowledges that it works, but then he’s back to thinking about it. He inhales, he exhales. Himiko’s still talking to Tenko, but they’re sitting on the sectional now. He inhales again. Tojo’s somewhere else now, but the tea cart is still there. He exhales. 

Seeing Kaito had brought more questions to his mind, and they’re the type of questions that he can’t figure out the answer to without additional information. He doesn’t necessarily _want_ to talk to any employee of Team Danganronpa ever again (he actually wants to distance himself from any one of them as much as possible), but he won’t get answers otherwise. His disdain for anything Danganronpa related (aren’t they all technically ‘Danganronpa related’?) doesn’t outweigh his tenacious curiosity, so he asks the woman, “What... _decides_... when they’ll wake up?”

She grins like more of a lunatic than any of Danganronpa’s killers could ever be. “There are the questions I’ve been waiting for!” She looks through her files and starts reading one of them aloud. “Their awakening is determined by a number of factors. The most prominent one is their will to live, however, the severity of their cause of death can substantially delay this. It also depends on when they passed on and how real the simulation felt to them. The more skeptical participants are likely to wake up sooner. At the same time, no exact time can be calculated due to external circumstances, like the game’s psychological impact on them. Anything else?”

“Ah. How long will it be?” 

“It will be a while. He definitely won’t wake up until after participant number eight-zero-zero, Miu Iruma, awakens.” She smiles, even though there’s nothing about the conversation that’s worth smiling about.

There’s one more question that Shuichi needs to ask, but he doesn’t want to know the answer. No, that’s not true; he wants to know the answer, but he’s definitely not ready for it. “Are they... is it possible,” he swallows, “that they won’t wake up?” he braces himself.

The Team Danganronpa employee taps her pen to her lips. “Well, the retaining of in-game memories and the removal of pre-game memories is a new implementation this season, but based on how the previous season went, everything should work out alright. Of course, because of unforeseen circumstances, nothing is set in stone.”

He presses his lips in a line. _It’s like none of their lives are any consequence to this woman._ To her, it doesn’t seem to matter if they live or die. 

“You can go visit them though, any time. I advise you to not remove their helmets though, because that _will_ kill them. They need to rejoin reality on their own terms. Forcing them out now will be too much for their psyche to handle!” She giggles, and Shuichi hides an unsettled shudder. He instead forces a smile and puts some distance between the two of them.

Shuichi begins weighing his options; he needs to find a way to kill time - _waste time_. He supposes he could go through that locker with his old belongings, but he’s not... _ready_. He doesn’t feel ready for anything. _Nothing makes sense anymore and he just -_

He needs to start small. 

He decides that he should probably eat something even though he has no appetite. Just the thought that (at least) the last hundred times he ate something, it was probably tube fed to him by more members of Team Danganronpa because of his… incapacity, makes him want to do it for himself while also ruining his appetite further. 

He can’t win. ( _He did win.)_ Isn’t winning supposed to be a good thing? Shuichi doesn’t remember being competitive, especially not in such a dreary situation, but shouldn’t he be at least a little glad that he didn’t have to experience dying like most of the others did? 

He’s not.

 

Shuichi is pushing himself to eat some bland crackers when Kaede Akamatsu walks into the room. 

“Hey Shuichi.” she greets him with a smile. 

He startles when he sees her, and almost spits out some cracker crumbs, and he realizes that he has to swallow the food in his mouth before he can talk. The dry pieces scratch his throat in his rush to speak, and all he can say is, “K-Kaede.” His eyes are wide open and she’s just smiling like nothing’s wrong about the situation they’re all caught up in. Then he realizes that she was gone before the worst of it happened. _But,_ his brain supplies, _she died horribly._  

“I…” He has so many things he wants to tell her but all of them are gone from his mind now. 

“You did it Shuichi, I knew you could.” 

He doesn’t know where to begin. “Wh-?” he lets out a questioning noise. He unintentionally grips the bag of crackers hard enough that a number of them break with a crunch.

“You beat the mastermind at their own game. If anyone could do it, you could,” she tells him, and she’s so nice and so supportive, but he doesn’t really feel like he did anything. _Almost everyone died._ He should’ve stopped the killing game before it began like Kaede set out to do, _though perhaps in a different way..._

The first full sentence that comes out is a self-deprecating one, “I didn’t do anything.” His head is down-turned, and he almost wishes he had his hat to hide under. It’s true though. Himiko’s the reason that they figured out the mastermind’s secrets; if she hadn’t found the secret door in the girls' bathroom, they never would’ve found out the truth.

“Of course you did! Don’t put yourself down so much, be confident.”

 _But, he can’t._ He nods absently, because he isn’t going to say that _aloud_. 

“I believe in you Shuichi.”

 _How could someone like Kaede believe in him when he doesn’t even believe in himself? Why does she believe in him?_ He’d failed to stop her execution, failed to stop the killing game until the very end, and the only thing he did successfully was help lead the rest of his friends to their executions. He should’ve recognized Kokichi’s plan to stop the killing game instead of revealing Kaito. He should’ve listened to Kaito, and never voted Gonta in the first place. He should’ve been more perceptive before the seance. He should’ve noticed that Hoshi wasn’t okay, and prevented his death. He should’ve realized what Kaede was doing before it was too late. 

Even if they voted incorrectly, none of it was real. They could’ve spared each other the additional trauma that stemmed from witnessing murder after murder, forced upon them by Tsumugi and Monokuma. _What did it matter if he died in the simulation instead?_ It’s not like he ever cared about winning. Or, maybe he did before he got his memories wiped and rewritten, but that doesn’t matter anymore either.

 

He’s not sure when Kaede leaves the room, but soon he’s alone again. He hears Amami call out, “Kaede! It was Tsumugi. Shuichi told me,” but it’s muffled by the closed door. He’s glad that she’s cleared of the guilt. He can tell by how happy she seems now. He’s happy for her too, and he wonders if he’ll ever get back to normal. 

_(What is… normal?)_

 

His first therapy session happens a few days later. The therapist, another member of Team Danganronpa is, surprisingly, sort of nice. She doesn’t seem to have any ill intention, and Shuichi almost thinks her eyes show kindness.

“What you’re experiencing is a form of survivor’s guilt. You may feel like you shouldn’t have made it through the game mostly unscathed while all the others didn’t. You might think you could’ve… put an end to it sooner, or spared them the pain. This is normal, but you should know that nothing that happened was your fault.”

He understands what she’s saying, but he has a feeling it’ll take a little while for him to accept it, if he ever does.

She moves onto the next topic quickly. “How have you been adjusting?”

“Um… I’ve been… okay, I guess.”

“It’s probably been a little overwhelming.” A little is an understatement, and Shuichi can tell that they both know this. He figures she’s downplaying it on purpose, trying not to be too pushy on getting him to open up. He’s grateful for that.

“...yeah.”

It continues along like an ordinary discussion, and the therapist gives some recommendations to help with his appetite and the nightmares. It’s not a very lengthy session; Shuichi doesn’t have much to say. It is helpful, but he’s not ready to talk about everything. The therapist, however, is already privy to all the information involving their lives within the simulation. She encourages him to do things like reading to pass the time because it might take his mind off of the trauma, if only for a little while. She also suggests that he might benefit from visiting the other three that haven’t woken up yet. It might make him feel better to talk to them, even if they can’t hear him. 

She’s right, but he hasn’t prepared himself for that yet. He hasn’t visited Kaito since that brief time with Maki, and he can’t bring himself to go back. Maybe that’ll change soon, but for right now, Shuichi is taking his time. 

His appetite has already improved a bit. He’s been eating two meals a day, which is a start. His stomach must’ve shrunk while he was in the simulation, because he isn’t hungry for anything else. 

 

Somehow, Shuichi finds himself outside the door of the room that Kokichi Oma currently resides in. It’s not exactly a surprise, though. Something’s been gnawing at him - he wasn’t sure what it was until now. He tries telling himself that he has nothing to say to Kokichi, but…

 

... _that’s a lie_. 

He sighs.

 

Logically, Shuichi, and everyone else’s distrust towards Kokichi was warranted, but… he could’ve tried harder. _No_ , no matter what he did, he’s sure he wouldn’t have figured out Kokichi’s true motives.

But, he… he _ignored_ the fact that Kokichi would’ve been the victim if he hadn’t persuaded Gonta, and that was wrong. He knows that Kokichi was cornered; no one would believe him if he tried to tell them about Miu. He even went as far as to lie and falsely implicate Kokichi during the trial, and that makes him feel worse than when he solved his first homicide case. _That first case never really happened though_ , he reminds himself. 

Kokichi dug himself into a hole, and he could have tried and tried to claw himself out, but he would never make it alone; it wasn’t his fault that no one was willing to give him a hand and pull him out. And then, the hole became a grave, and Kokichi sacrificed himself ( _why did he sacrifice himself?_ ) to help them when they did _nothing_ for him. 

He… wants to say sorry.

So, he swallows the saliva in his mouth, trying to clear away the thick feeling in his throat, and looks both ways before entering as if he’s a child about to do something he’s not supposed to. He knows Kaito and Maki would probably have something to say about it - though, that might’ve changed for Kaito after the fifth trial, and Maki probably wouldn’t actually _say_ anything, but he can picture a judgemental look. If Shuichi had to guess who Maki hated the most during the entirety of the game, even after everything, it would doubtlessly be Kokichi; and, he would be right. 

He almost expects Oma to jump up and say, “it’s a lie!” 

He doesn’t, of course. He just lays there, looking sickly and pale. The bags under his eyes are ironic considering how long he - they’ve all - been unconscious. Then again, sleeping more than necessary does that too, he’s heard. 

He swallows more of the dryness clotting his throat and turns away. The room suddenly feels suffocating, like it’s closing in on him, _almost like that hydraulic press closed in on Kokichi_ , the intrusive thought passes through his mind, and he internally scolds himself, _stop it, don’t think about it_. 

He promises himself that he’ll say sorry when Kokichi wakes up. _If,_ his thoughts remind him, prompting a grimace. 

 

He visits Miu right after. He knows it’s only to justify himself for visiting Kokichi, but seeing her so quiet and not cracking some crude joke or reference is also so unusual. 

He probably wouldn’t feel sympathetic for her if she hadn’t been the one who ended up dead, but he still can’t fault Gonta for trying to save them all… She planned out a murder, _and it’s messed up, it’s so messed up -_

She would’ve gone through with it too. He’s sure of it. 

She’d been so calculating, designing the simulation - (a simulation within a simulation, Shuichi pointlessly notes) - for the sole purpose of murder, and even going so far as to pin the blame on Kaito. He wonders how different things would’ve been if she had succeeded. _Not much,_ he supposes. _It still would’ve all been fake, fake, fake._ Maybe the killing game wouldn’t have been prolonged for as long as it did, _not like it would matter_. 

Shuichi stews in the thought as he walks back to his room. He’s too tired to think right now. He hopes that everything will stop being so exhausting if he takes a nap, but he knows that’s just wishful thinking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I need a friend


	3. Awakenings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> guys im just an english localization normie, no offense to Polynesian religion-- all of my descriptions and references of Atua are based purely on fiction and have no impact on the Polynesian god Atua I promise!
> 
> This chapter was posted at the same time (pretty much) as chapter two, so make sure you've read that one too c:
> 
> Also, the end chapters notes are gonna be really long and kinda just character opinions so feel free to skip over em. :}

Rantaro Amami wakes up first. It's a given, considering his circumstances.  
  
It's not like he knew much in the pixelated confines of the 53rd season, but he knew more. Everything was seamless, he couldn't have possibly figured it out with the limited time he had.  
  
He knew that it was a simulation though, the entire time.  
  
_What he didn't know, is that the dead came back to life._  
  
Rantaro Amami had been a fan favorite amongst the 52nd season contestants, but in the end, he chose wrong.  
  
There were two options: Enter the next season with a perk, or enter the next season as the mastermind.  
  
It was like one of those yandere-simulations. They had a neutral, good, and bad ending (and maybe a few in between). The good ending is the one where you have to do everything exactly right; it's harder to figure out, it doesn't seem like an option. Kinda like in the second season - when Hinata had to find the trick in that arcade game to find out the real ending (he watches the first two seasons two days after waking up - the only two where the characters were entirely fictional and not made up of an existing person's consciousness. He can't stomach anything else.)  
  
In this case, it was different. It wasn't about filling in the missing pieces - no matter what ending Rantaro had chosen as the final survivor (that wasn't the mastermind), it would still be a complete season. He didn't know he could have gone around the rules and started a final trial to expose the mastermind early, and then reject both the bad and the neutral ending in order to get the good one, and he wouldn't know that until he witnessed it on screen. He got the neutral ending. He picked the better of two options, and never knew there was a third.  
  
He entered the 53rd season, remembering everything from the last. Well, everything except the final trial. If he'd remembered that it'd be too easy for him - that's what Team Danganronpa thought anyways.  
  
So there he was, knowing he had survived, not knowing his ultimate talent (that memory was taken from him too), and knowing he was in another game all over again, convinced he was forced into it again because of some faux Ultimate Hunt that the Team weaved into his real memories, among some other memories injected in between. This time, there were 15 unfamiliar faces again.  
  
He was offed quickly. He knows it was because he knew too much after vaguely suggesting some memories to other students who clearly had no clue. He doesn't know who did it until much later, either.  
  
He's heard of the saying 'early to bed, early to rise,' but he never thought it'd be applicable to his 'final rest' in a simulation, and his 'rise' back into consciousness.  
  
It doesn't take much searching online to discover that they just stopped saving pre-simulation memories and returning them this season. Apparently, they had returned pre-game memories until last season - his season. Something went wrong between the falsified sim memories and the real ones, too many contradictions. Three contestants' thoughts and memories stopped functioning and the nerve endings got all screwed up, rendering them all brain dead. He was friends with one of them...  
  
Team Danganronpa had tried switching out in-game memories with pre-game memories before and after the season occurred when the series had reached the 40th season. Extremist fans protested, wanting their in-game experience to be remembered by the 49th. Rantaro stops reading after that.  
  
He can't stop thinking about what a cruel joke it is that he won the 52nd season, yet he's the only one who can't remember a family that all (most) of the other participants were able to go home to. He should've just lost. The extra money deposited by Team Danganronpa in his bank account is meaningless by now.

  
  
Kaede is next, but it's still a couple of weeks after his awakening. It doesn't take him long to realize that she was the one who killed him. It is also obvious that she wasn't the mastermind, or if she was, she wasn't the only one. He visits her room, once. She's looking down at the sheets, knuckles white with her grip. Her bangs aren't swept to the side anymore, they hang loosely over her face. She says she's sorry, that she was just trying to save everyone. It's quiet and trembling, but he can hear it loud and clear.  
  
Even though she won't meet his eyes, he still forgives her. He just hopes that she can forgive herself.

 

  
  
After dying so early, even the other members seemed like strangers to Kaede. Rantaro was more adaptable, he still remembered the 52nd season and all the relationships he made. All Kaede has is her past and her piano, which turns out, isn't even hers.  
  
She can't play music like she could in the sim. She knows the notes by heart, but her fingers don't react so fast, can't play as fluidly. Instead of forming friendships with her 'could've beens’ as they awaken, she tries to regain the knack for what she had lost, during the first few weeks in the center. She practices piano, and she remembers the sounds and the timing. The smooth texture of the piano keys feels so familiar. She gets better, she improves, and she's good, great even. (Not ultimate)  
  
_It's funny_ , she realizes. She wanted to gain what she's lost, but how could she do that if she never had it to begin with?

 

Things get a little better when she finally forces herself to approach Rantaro, though; she forces herself to stand, from the bed she’s spent a lot of time in for the past three weeks, against the weight of the guilt dragging her further into the abyss of self-loathing. 

He’s in the main room of the center when she walks in. “I’m sorry,” she blurts out, and he turns to face her, startled at the suddenness. 

His shock settles into something else, something calmer, maybe pitying, and he just says, “don’t worry about it.”

She opens her mouth. _How could he just brush it off? It was all her fault, didn’t he understand that?_ Her vision is blurry with moisture. “No.” 

He raises a brow.

“ _It_ _was all my fault._ I’m the reason the killing game started! If I hadn’t rolled that shot-put ball through the vent… I was so self-assured that I’d be the one to save everyone. You wouldn’t have died if it wasn’t for me!” The tears that had been budding in her eyes begin to trail down, catching underneath her jaw.

He is stunned, and she doesn’t _get it_. The look of complete surprise that’s shown in his eyes and expression makes no sense. At least, it doesn’t make sense until he explains, “it wasn’t you.”

“What?”

His gaze drifts away from her. His eyes and thoughts are far away. “The ball that came from the vent didn’t hit me. Someone else hit me from behind after it rolled past.” 

She’s speechless.

In the next second, Tenko marches through the door leading to the simulation rooms and searches the room. It’s only her, Ryoma, and Rantaro in the room for the moment, which is probably the reason that Tenko latches onto the nearest girl, which happens to be her.

“Kaede! _Is this degenerate bothering you?_ ”

Rantaro puts his hands up in protest and Kaede lets out a genuine laugh. It sounds strange as it reaches her ears. “No, everything’s okay,” and Kaede realizes she actually means it. 

 

She takes a break from the piano for a while.

 

 

Three days after Kaede wakes up, someone else does, and that person is Ryoma. He quickly understands that life outside the simulation is just as pointless as life inside the simulation. The mandatory therapy they all receive feels like a sham, and while Ryoma doesn't know much about human compassion, he does know that most of the doctors that keep asking him “how he's feeling” don't possess any - at least, not towards them. He assumes it's the same for the other two because they're also called upon by their participant number when they're needed. 

He's not sure that Team Danganronpa even knows their names, despite them all being cash cows for the company considering the 'rumored' hype about their upcoming season. The chirpy woman with the pseudo-smile mentions this in passing; it's either a stupid attempt to cheer him up, or a thinly-veiled effort to mock him. If it's the latter, it's working (but it's probably the former).

He gets along pretty well with Rantaro (Rantaro approached him first, of course). He doesn’t have much of an opinion about his own death in the game, but he suspects that if he wasn’t partially in favor of his death, he’d smile more, like Rantaro. He sees some potential in the kid - _scratch that -_ he sees potential in everyone but himself. He shrugs it off though and continues the mediocrity of living. 

Ryoma’s never been much of an optimist, but Rantaro does remind him that even though he might not have any more purpose in this life, he at least has a chance to find out. _Tch, what a delusion._ But, the words stick with him, unwittingly. 

He asks the peppy faculty woman about his possessions from before the game. It was mentioned to him, by who, he can’t remember. She leads him to a set of lockers and hands him a slip of paper with a combination. He finds the one labeled Ryoma Hoshi and clears it out, embarking towards his given room. While wondering if he has a cat outside of the simulation, he opens a worn, spiral notebook. All his passwords and login info are categorized within. It’s by no means neatly organized, but it isn’t necessarily messy either. He starts with his phone password. The background is, to put it boldly, a photo of someone’s middle finger. Maybe Kaede was right in the simulation; maybe he is an edgelord. _How childish._

Ryoma looks at his left hand, and then at the picture. It’s not his hand, so maybe he _did_ have friends. _Heh. Only one way to find out._

He puts in the passcode, and he answers his earlier question. He does have a cat in reality. The phone wallpaper must be said cat, since the orange, black, and white, Japanese bobtail has a collar on with an “if lost, please return to-” with his name and probably his previous address. 

He checks his photos first. There are some memes, things that Ryoma might have found funny if he wasn’t put through all that shit because of the game - or show - whatever… There are also a few strangers scattered among them, people that have no meaning to him. They don’t spark even a flicker of recognition. He skips over the videos, making a note to check back on them some other time. He’s not in any of the photos, except for one. There’s a girl next to him. She’s about the same height, but she looks far younger. He looks a little younger too, but the most _off_ thing about the picture is that he’s _smiling_. It’s so foreign to him, because he can’t even remember a time in his fabricated life that he smiled. The expression looks out of place on his face, but that could just be because he’s not used to it. He vaguely wonders if the girl might be his sister. They don’t really look alike, but they share the same reddish hair. 

He scrolls through his text messages to people, and they seem like a bunch of idiots. He can’t bring himself to react in any way but neutrally to the immaturity. It would be pointless. However, he can still acknowledge it.

“danganronpa hoshi dam ur gon b rich bro”

“U gon share dat cash wit ur buddys”

He puts the phone back on the bed with a noncommittal shrug. Suddenly, he doesn’t feel like looking through the laptop just yet. He tells himself that he’ll do it later and leaves the room to find something to eat. It’s around seven o’clock anyway (The phone told him so). He might as well eat dinner. He exits the hallway and comes face to face with the bottom of a loose blue-patterned  dress, which is out of the ordinary for Kaede. He looks up towards the girl’s face and - _oh_ \- it’s not Kaede, and it’s not a dress, but a hospital gown. 

He’s looking at the surprised face of his killer. _Heh._

 

 

Kirumi enters into the main rec room at sundown, greeting a distant, Kaede on the piano, with a bow. The blonde either doesn’t notice her or just doesn’t respond. She just watched the program explaining that all her memories were falsified and that, the whole time, she was inside of a simulation television show. When she bows with all the gracefulness she can muster, she does it to give her shaking legs a quick break from the weight of her body. She is given her signed contract, and suddenly her poise no longer matters, if only for a moment. 

It was all a fantasy. _She isn’t important._ She hadn’t served important people. She’d never even _met_ the prime minister. Her only reason for killing and dying was invalid. Her strong will to live, to survive and lead her people, was extinguished like a candle’s flame. All of the motivating factors that pushed her back into reality weren’t real. The world didn’t need protection from an imminent threat that ceased to exist.

She’d been horrible - _terrible_. She’d failed to serve the people that thought of her as a friend. After all, what is the worth of a maid who can’t even carry out her duties properly? 

There is none, she realizes. She was cold-hearted, driven by a viscous mixture of her ego and her devotion. The desperation on her face, showing the despair that succeeds in eating at her, is all it takes to show her complete and utter defeat. The fists she makes on top of the white, sectional sofa aren’t even necessary to show what she is feeling (She doesn’t recall walking to the sofa, nor sitting down). 

No one is there to see it anyway; a quick glance tells her Kaede doesn’t seem to know she’s there. And, because of that, it disappears. She un-clenches her fists and throws on a mask. The proclaimed ultimate maid sits up straight and makes level steps towards the next room as anyone might expect a proper maid to do. Once she’s through, she walks towards the doors to the hallway, through which, the faculty member told her the bedrooms are. 

She stops in surprise once she sees Ryoma come through the double doors. 

He looks up and meets her eyes, and suddenly, she must do something to make amends.

She obeisances with a kneel, lowering her head. “I will serve you however you wish. It is the least I could do after my disgraceful behavior.”

“Hmph, that’s not necessary.” He looks away, putting his hand to his hat covered forehead. 

The former-maid slowly rises to her feet. She glances towards the windows. The sun has set. “I will prepare you something to eat,” she informs once she looks back at him. “Do you have any particular preferences?”

“...”

“If you do not, I shall prepare an arrangement of various different dishes and cuisines.”

“...I don’t need your pity.”

Kirumi blinks. “Pity? It was not my intention to look down upon you in any way. I merely intend to offer you my servitude.”

“Just forget about it.”

“Then I will wait on you until you have a request.” Kirumi curtsies, half out of habit and half out of professionalism. She may not hold the title of Ultimate Maid in reality, but straying from the role she’s been playing, _now_ , would be dangerous. The last time she paused in being anything but the ultimate maid - well - both Kirumi and Ryoma know what happened then. 

“Hmph. That sounds excessive.” Ryoma shrugs. Kirumi just stands and watches as he walks past her and leaves the room. 

It’s new to her. She doesn’t know how to act once she’s done something wrong. She had prided herself on her absolute capability to complete her tasks. Taking Ryoma’s life had been the most deplorable thing she’d ever done, even if it _was_ only a simulation. Her noble pursuit wasn’t noble at all.

After a few moments of composing her thoughts, she follows after stands tall and ready for any request with one purpose - the purpose to serve. 

 

 

Korekiyo wakes up to screaming; it doesn't take a long time for him to realize that it's _him_ screaming. The screaming is accompanied by a fast-paced beeping, and the phantom pain of his body being boiled alive.

His world crumbles like the gold leaf plating of the relic katana when he’s told his sister isn’t real, and he learns that the two pure girls that he sent to ‘her’ are still alive. “You’re lying! You’re lying!” he screeches towards the Team Danganronpa employee, gripping her arms tightly. 

“Sir, calm down or you will have to be sedated.”

_Calm down? How can he calm down when they're filling his head with lies about his dear sister not being real?_

He feels a needle pierce his left shoulder, and he blacks out. When he comes to, he’s still on the floor, slightly subdued. 

Korekiyo has studied cultures and civilizations since he was young. He’d read and heard stories from tribes that believed the dead could be brought back to life; he’s been told legends and myths, from people with absolute surety, about humans who claimed to retain memories of past lives before reincarnation, but it was all nothing more than fascinating folklore. Korekiyo never thought he would experience anything akin to the myths spread long ago among the people. 

However, unlike the tales learned from traveling the world, he would suppose this similar occurrence had some scientific backing. It was somehow understandable that their memories were washed from their minds, and planted anew. The helmet, that had been covering his head, had wires connecting all over. _Who knows what mystical properties they beheld?_ The technicality that no one had _truly_ died is not lost on him. Nevertheless, it felt real. The burning of his skin and the pain - _it all felt so real._

Things are as best as they can get for a total of nearly four days. He finds himself almost unrecognizable without his mouth mask and his sister’s favorite shade of lipstick. His hair had dulled in its beauty because of his previous comatose-like state too. Yet, Kirumi still greets him properly and provides polite conversation occasionally, and Rantaro passes him a “hey” every now and then, _but that’s only because they don’t know what he’s capable of._ Things get worse for Korekiyo once Angie returns to the world of the living...

“Hmm? Is that the boy who murdered Angie? I see, I see,” she addresses him. “Atua wonders if Korekiyo steals food from starving children as well... or, or, if murdering girls is his _only_ hobby!” That’s what she says right when she walks through the door after awakening from her slumber. 

She bobs her body back and forth as she speaks about him like he’s not there while looking directly into his eyes with a chilling gaze. Her eyes aren’t just the color of a frozen lake, they make him feel like he’s being pushed into one, too.

He can’t say anything - he won’t apologize - _it’s not like an apology will fix this situation regardless._ He’s glad that she didn’t die after all (he wouldn’t want to send such a girl to his dear beloved sister), even if his sister isn’t real… even if she’s only a made-up story sewn into his other false memories. 

“Nonetheless, Atua will not forgive wicked evil-doers. Atua says they will be punished.” She brings her finger to her lips in a dark expression. The former-artist claps her hands together, looking towards the ceiling, “How divine!” 

“Is that so?” Korekiyo retorts, his eyes menacing. The white-haired girl returns the stare with equal fervor.

He hears Angie call after him as he shuts the hallway door behind him, “You know… Atua sends all people like Korekiyo to a place where they’re forever chained in a dark room and bathed in milk until they’re eaten alive by rats!”

Korekiyo’s talent is the reason he knows that it is an outdated torture method used in medieval ages. 

“Nyahahaha!” She chirps, hiding the darkness away as Kirumi enters the room and notices her appearance. “Byonara Korekiyo!” 

She prances over to Kirumi and Korekiyo represses a shiver. _Things are developing quite interestingly, it seems._

 

 

When Angie wakes up to bright light, her first thought is that she has ascended into her next life beside Atua. She believes this until she notices her strange surroundings. Everything is so odd and bright. Atua tells her to go through the door, and like a true acolyte, she listens. After that, another voice speaks to her, but it is not the voice of Atua. She follows that voice too (because Atua tells her to).  

When she learns that she hasn’t been reborn, and is, in fact, alive along with the rest of the killing game’s participants, Angie thinks her God has spared her and given her another chance. She’s delighted. His holy presence has bestowed an honor upon her being. 

She greets everybody animatedly, telling them of the wonderful opportunity her deity has given them all. 

She acquires divine inspiration from her second chance at life and plans to paint all across the walls of her given room. She doesn’t know how the paints got there, on the bedside table, but Atua will put the offering to good use. Painting makes her feel as if she’s watching over her own body as a spirit while Atua takes control of her as a vessel, creating scenes and beings with ethereal beauty. It’s a feeling unlike any other, and it makes her feel at peace with the world. 

Yet, when she lays the paintbrush upon the blank canvas, she’s suddenly still. She drags the soft, red paint covered ends of the brush, but it doesn’t glide angelically, it doesn’t feel the same. She ponders if Atua is mad at her for some reason. Otherwise, how can her unforeseen lack of fluidity be explained?

 

Angie sees her friends, and she’s so so happy and blessed to have such wonderful friends! 

“Kirumi! Atua tells me you’ve been doing well!”

“I suppose I have,” Kirumi responds.

“Nyahahaha! Atua is always right! Say, Kirumi, your aura seems extra powerful today! I can feel it in the air! So divine!”

“Ah, that is very kind. Thank you Angie.” She bows.

Kirumi is very nice to her, and Rantaro is too. She has a lot of friends, and now that they’re free from Monokuma’s clutches, everything is sublime! 

But Angie notices something different, ever since she’s entered this strange afterlife, Tenko pretends she doesn’t like her. It’s so convincing that Angie sometimes feels that Tenko _really_ doesn’t like her, but that has to be impossible! Angie doesn’t know why Tenko acts like this… Angie is always bright, and fun, and it’s not like they don’t have things in common! 

Angie remembers how both of them were wronged by the same despicable monster, but thinking of that monster makes Angie frown, so she instead does what Atua tells her, and stays happy!  Everything is glorious, because why wouldn’t it be?

 

To show everyone how happy she is, she starts with the little things. (Atua is probably just helping another loyal follower right now, being the benevolent god he is.) She starts doing things that she might not need Atua’s inspiration for, like little crafts, folding papers into shapes, creating things like she’s meant to do. Angie is hopeful that some of her positivity will rub off on the rest of the dull and dreary inhabitants. She doesn’t see why they are sad. Atua gave them another chance, and they are out of the killing game! It’s marvelous news! _So, why are they sad?_

( _Why isn’t she sad?_ )

Angie is delighted when Himiko wakes up; Himiko has always been her friend. But, she is confused. Himiko is glad to see her, of course! …but, but, buuut, Angie can see it, in Himiko’s eyes. When Himiko talks to Angie it’s gone, but it comes back whenever Himiko is with Tenko. It’s a light that seems brighter than Angie could ever feel without Atua. Angie can’t recall a time when anyone had that look when talking to her...

She’s stuck, lips pursed and head tilted, wondering why. 

 

 

Tenko wakes up with a gasp, choking on air. 

She… was attacked.

She narrows her eyes. _It must’ve been a degenerate male. How dare they!_

She wanders through the halls and she wonders how long she was knocked out. She wonders until she’s told that she wasn’t just _attacked_ ; _she was murdered_. It’s shocking. She is disappointed that she let herself be bested, she should’ve been more cautious. 

The TDR employees are no friend of hers, female or not.

When she walks through the doors and spots Kaede, she’s so glad that she’s there. Kaede might have made a mistake, but she did it out of the goodness of her heart! Tenko knows that Kaede’s intentions were nothing but an honest attempt to get them out of there. She wraps around the girl like velcro and tries to get the point across, letting her know that she will fight off the green-haired degenerate if she needs to. 

Kaede’s not as sunny as she used to be, and she wonders if the menace beside her had anything to do with it. Tenko wouldn’t be surprised if Rantaro was making Kaede feel bad about her failed attempt to save everyone. She focuses her glare onto him, ready to threaten him further, just in case.

But… Rantaro, and even Ryoma, _especially Ryoma_ , who’s sitting on the sofa and just _staring_ , look haunted. They probably haven’t gotten much sleep, and the killing game definitely took its toll on them too.

Tenko realizes that maybe the degenerate males aren’t the real villains here… they _were_ all put into the same killing game by the same members of Team Danganronpa -

That’s her opinion until she sees Korekiyo and the pieces to the puzzle that was her death fall into place. She decides that both her killer and Team Danganronpa are menaces. She is going to find the menace in charge of this twisted company and make them pay! She, however, doesn’t want to go anywhere near Korekiyo. Her entire body gets cold and numb whenever she catches a glimpse of him, so she listens to her body and avoids him at all costs. 

The Danganronpa employees have some nerve! Tenko is appalled that anyone would ever just overwrite a person’s existence like they did to all of them! She’s still so worried about Himiko, now that she’s still trapped in there with two less female allies on her side. Her dread increases further when she realizes the only role models the mage has left besides Tsumugi, are, the not very warm and welcoming assassin, Maki, and _Miu,_ who would be a terrible influence on her dear Himiko! It’s a bit of a relief that the redhead will have Tsumugi to help her get through this. Tenko doesn’t think that Tsumugi is the type of girl to lead Himiko astray.

(But that’s not true either… is it?)

Tenko knows she’s not at her best right now… fear and uncertainty are common in her daily life now, whereas before they hadn’t existed in her world at all. 

She sleeps with the lights on now. She’s mad at herself that a degenerate could make her feel so _afraid_. The darkness used to be peaceful, but now it only brings her back to when she was under that cage, covered in a sheet; she startled as the floor beneath her shot up, before all she could feel was pain. She couldn’t even scream because she felt like there was no air to gasp in. 

She shakes her head, hoping that it’ll shake the memories out of her mind. 

The killing game might’ve forced her to feel this fear, but she’s stronger than that. She won’t let it consume her. She resolves that she’ll face her fear! Tenko Chabashira won’t be afraid of the dark anymore!

She can do this! She believes that she can overcome whatever the world throws at her. 

She flickers the lights off as she enters the room, preparing to sleep. The hairs on her arms and legs stand alert, and she turns the lights back on before getting under the covers. _She can do this…_ just not tonight. 

 

Gonta wakes up screaming. He’s so confused when he wakes up; it’s like waking up from a bad, bad dream! He is startled at the voices that crackle through the speakers, (How did people get in there?) but he listens to them. He has so many questions; he didn’t understand anything about the other “virtual world” and he doesn’t understand much about the one the girl with the glasses is trying to tell him about as she smiles at him. 

The smile is _very bad_. Gonta knows it isn’t gentlemanly to think such things, but he has a strong instinct that tells him she has killed _many innocent bugs_ with that same smile on her face. 

He meets a man that gives him a doctor check-up, and he doesn’t seem so bad to Gonta. The tiny, little pinpricks to check for changes in his system, as was explained, is nothing Gonta can’t handle without a small flinch.

(especially after getting stung to death)

The man uses a cuff that tightens up on Gonta’s arm too, and taps on his knees to make sure they work correctly. It’s a weird procedure, one Gonta hasn’t had before, but Gonta finds nothing wrong with it, or the doctor.

His other doctor is a different kind. She asks that Gonta talk about his feelings, and Gonta has no problems with that, so he does. He knows it’s ungentlemanly to keep secrets.

“Gonta doesn’t really understand all the big words… but Gonta think doctors are trying to help,” he explains, and she listens intently, a sincere smile on her face. He continues.

“Gonta ask for a bug terrarium yesterday! Doctors were very nice and let Gonta have one, but one of the bugs was a Vespa Mandarinia, and Gonta know all bugs are good, but Gonta feel scared! Gonta no know why he scared of bug when bug is his friend!”

The woman lets him know that what he is experiencing is a conditioned fear response, which means, he is scared of the bugs, because they remind him of the death he experienced in the simulation. He tries to wrap his head around it all, understanding the basics of the explanation, but not the specifics. 

The wasps remind him of a time when he was scared, so he gets scared when he sees them. It makes him sad. He got along with all bugs before! He doesn’t want to be scared, but… he just _is_.

A few days later, he and the nice doctor talk about something very different from bugs. 

“Gonta no mean to hurt Miu… don’t even remember it! But, Miu still not awake. Gonta wants Miu awake so Gonta can say sorry!” He tries to express, already tearing up.

“Gonta behave like opposite of gentleman!” The tears stream down his cheeks as the guilt persists. 

  
“Gonta hopes Miu isn’t scared of Gonta like Gonta scared of bug.” Gonta frowns at himself, _but why wouldn’t Miu be scared of him? People always thought Gonta was big and scary and they are right_ , Gonta thinks.

 

“Gonta wish those bad things never happen to Miu… or anyone! Why Monokuma be so mean?!”

She reminds him that Monokuma isn’t real, and Gonta nods, because he remembers her saying this to him, but it still feels real to his heart. Gonta doesn’t think she’s lying, but he feels lost when thinking that Monokuma and the terrible game wasn’t real! He doesn’t want Monokuma to be real, but if Monokuma isn’t real, then is _he_ real? _Was it all just a bad dream?_

“Gonta has bad bad dreams! Gonta thinks, what if Gonta never lost memory? Gonta thinks about seeing Miu as other Gonta kill her and Gonta wake up screaming!”

The dreams are horrifying, but Gonta can’t make them go away. He sees Miu’s hands fall limply to her side as she stops breathing. He sees himself push her down the roof, letting her fall. He cries, but it doesn’t stop him from seeing her. 

 

Maki’s eyes snap open in an instant, and she’s wary because she knows that she never closed them. She doesn’t know what’s going on, and that’s a _problem_. Maki knows herself better than she’s ever gotten to know anyone else, and she would never let someone else get the upper hand, _yet_ - 

She had been unconscious.

She’s in an unknown location.

She has a lethargic feeling that she can’t recall ever having before. _Nothing makes her feel like this_ , like she can’t lift up her arms. She does though, but she grits her teeth once she realizes the body she’s in doesn’t feel like her own.

Maki Harukawa _doesn’t_ have noodle arms, but yet here she is, not feeling nearly as strong as she was as they escaped the trial grounds. Her limbs almost dangle uselessly, even though she _can_ still move them, there’s an unfamiliar effort that she has to give to do so. She stands up and her legs feel weaker than they should be too. 

She pushes the door open, and that act alone almost makes her sweat. The speakers give her instructions, and although she doesn’t want to follow them, she’s considering it might lead her to her captor; if it does, she can use the last of her strength to strangle them. 

Instead, it leads her to an empty room, and the door locks behind her, _because of course it would_ , why did she doubt that the halls would be luring her towards what is most likely a trap. She bangs on the door that she came from angrily, but it has no doorknobs, and won’t break under her meager strength. How did someone manage to get her into this situation, where she’s rendered completely defenceless? 

It takes less time than it usually might for her to give up. She seats herself and awaits her inevitable demise. She doesn’t have much to live for… _not anymore_.

Until Shuichi walks through the door. She’s startled to see him. She would’ve thought her enemies would keep them separated. Himiko comes next and then suddenly the truth falls into place.

 

When Himiko wakes up it feels like she’s waking up from a nightmare within a nightmare. 

“Nyeh?” she throws the heavy helmet off of her head with a clatter.

She looks around and _all_ she sees is that she’s _alone_. It doesn’t matter that she doesn’t know where she is or why - she’s _alone_. Shuichi and Maki aren’t here anymore and she’s all by herself _again_ , and _everyone_ _around her_ just _keeps_ disappearing. _She can’t take it anymore._ Before she knows it she’s sobbing, going back under the stiff papery blanket from which she came, blocking out the light and all hopes of a possible future. Eventually, a voice starts up over the speakers and tells her to exit the room. She doesn’t, because what’s the point? Nothing matters anymore. 

Until a horn starts blaring, and she’s so startled, and she definitely doesn’t have enough MP to put up a sound barrier. She lets out a frustrated yell and crawls to the door, trying to use one arm to cover both ears while the other fumbles for the doorknob. 

Her hat is missing too, Himiko notices, but what difference does another thing that has been taken from her make?

She stumbles around as slow as a snail, exhausted, and scared, and lifeless as she navigates the halls. She’s breathing heavily within just a couple of steps, so she sits down and takes a break, letting some of the lingering dizziness fade before crying some more and pulling herself up. She can’t help but think, _why me?_ It’s not like she would wish it on anyone else, but why does that have to mean _she_ has to go through it? 

Finishing the trial was supposed to end it! Himiko thinks that maybe they did something wrong. It’s the only thing that makes even a little sense. 

The next door she comes across is automatic, luckily, and she quickly stumbles through.

To her surprise, her eyes meet Shuichi and Maki’s, and her fear is overshadowed by relief, for just a moment. She thinks it might be weird to hug them, so she doesn’t, but she could _really_ use a hug. 

Once they’re given an explanation, that feeling grows stronger. 

 

_Is anything real? Or is it all just a trick?_

  
  
  
On the seventy-sixth day since they all entered the killing game simulation, Miu wakes up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heck yeaaaaa, we are one step closer to the awakening of Kokichi and Kaito. 
> 
> I’ve always thought of Ryoma as.. idk... sort of, wise? He seems like he was forced to grow up before he fully experienced childhood. I feel like he thinks of himself as more of an adult than any of the other “students”, which is why it’s hard for him to relate to them and see himself as their friend. He is kind of an edgelord lol, convinced he’s just some outsider. (Ryoma’s phone is a suggestion towards himself being a tsundere, because the owner of the phone seems all edgy on the outside (with the middle finger) and then it unlocks, and there’s the soft inside (the fuzzy cat lol)) I also think Ryoma and Angie are vastly different. Ryoma is a pessimist, and he isn’t the type to approach someone. Angie is pretty much the opposite; she is soooo optimistic and cheerful, and she was fine with recruiting others for her ritual group(cult). Angie has no sense of right and wrong, she doesn’t understand that throwing people under the bus is wrong (for Ryoma’s murder), while Ryoma knows that he has done bad things and realizes murder is wrong. He feels that he isn’t the type of person people should bother with because he has murdered people. He’s not very strong-willed, while Angie is very strong-willed and assured in her beliefs. Angie prances around with her head in the clouds while Ryoma is chained to reality. 
> 
> And did anyone notice how I vaguely compared Kaede and Korekiyo? I kinda wanted to make things opposing between them for how things are going after the simulation. For Kaede, the girl who (nobly?) commited murder without malicious intent and in reality was framed, everything starts out at the worst for her. Based on the end of her trial, she has a high-sense of guilt and self-blame. Things got better when her guilt could be lifted by the realizations of Rantaro, which represents her overall positive outlook on life (aka, things always get better) while I had things get worse for Korekiyo because at first, no one knows of his crimes, so he doesn’t have to face any backlash. He had very selfish (and maybe even slightly delusional?) pursuits, and very cunningly planned out the seesaw trick for the sole purpose of murdering someone. Furthermore, he didn’t show any guilt for his actions. Things get worse for him once his victims get out of the simulation, because it leads to everyone knowing about what he did, and of his motivations. 
> 
> I don’t know why but I like to compare killer vs killer and victim vs victim. It’s kinda like a character study for me. Some of them almost seem life foils to each other. Overall, it’s pretty interesting stuff. 
> 
> Well that's the end of my ramblings. Thanks for reading! :}


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